Luis Mejia and Kelli Emmett clean up at Ridgeline Rampage

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"Punchy" was the term used by many to describe the relentless micro 10 mile hilly course in Castle Rock CO. Marathon riders did 6 laps on a beautiful sunny day with pro's going first and then the rest leaving many to question, "how many times will we get passed by the leaders?" The winners Luis Mejia and Kelli Emmett both lapped some of the field once and others 2x (your's truely). But regardless of how fast or slow you may have rode this course you have to be in awe of the speeds the top 3 riders, Luis, Kalan and Brady were riding. The first time the riders passed me I was shocked at Luis's speed and at the gap he had on Kalan and Brady. While it was hard to tell exactly what the gap was since I was in motion (barely) as well but I would guess 10-15minute gap. Plenty of other pros passed me but none seemed to have nearly the intensity as top 3.

The course was described by many as "dusty kitty litter" but IMO the hardest part was the fact that nearly every 10 mile lap required about 50 ten second intervals with all the very short climbs making this a extremely difficult course for Single Speed field yet the winner, Richard Trent, completed the course in 4:31 which was a very good time even by pro geared speeds!

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5 Comments

Unlike in the last race at Voodoo in this race I was being passed all the time but I'd have so say of the probably 50+ passes 49 were extremely polite with 1 being OK. From my point of view it was WAY better than Voodoo http://303cycling.com/2012-Voodoo-Fire where aggressive passing tactics either put people in harms way or came close to it. What was your experience?

I did the Half Marathon in the Single Speed class. I think everyone was pretty cool about passing and communicating about passing. I witnessed one snafu when a group of 5 (I was last in the pack of 5) was rolling up onto the big woopty roller on a descent (it was a passing issue) but other than that, good sportsmanship all around. I rolled up on the loose dog on the course and everyone slowed down and even dismounted not to scare the pooch.

I would say, I think the single speeders had somewhat of an advantage, becuase you didn't have to pick a gear to punch these little climbs. The long climb on the back side was super loose and hard to climb out of the saddle, the only disadvantage on the SS folks.

Really impressed how fun that course was and unlike most mtn bike courses in the state. Definetly more technical than Bear Creek. Nice job RME!

Agreed that Voodoo Fire had a lot of nasty people out there. I watched two different guys run into and take down two women! And one yelled at her (at least the other guy apologized). I also saw a half-marathon guy cut switchbacks even though no one was there (so not trying to pass, just cut corners of the course). And I got yelled at by one guy for not pulling over and stopping to allow him to pass. I wish that races on fully-singletrack courses were organized to limit the amount of passing that will occur based on start times and ordering of groups.

Voodoo Fire was a great course . The execution didn't quite work though. There were some horrible passes too. Just because your going fast does not give you the right to pass while there is a conga line in front of you. Hello everyone is trying to pass. How about gunning it in the fire road section and then strategically passing in the singletrack. Too many times I saw people getting passed by a half bike length and then getting pushed off track or having to brake and cause a pile up with everyone behind them. A few pros did this too. Also may not be the wisest idea too gun a late pass into a turn and wreak havoc on the other 10 people.
How about running the pros HM , m+w and then marathon. It seems to me that the HM pros will be running faster than the Marathon.

Thankfully, rude riding and rude people are not common at all around here. So when it does happen, it is almost startling. I suppose I'm thankful that I am shocked by it, rather than accustomed to it. I am impressed by the way the pros represent themselves on the course. They are either skilled enough to pass whenever they please, or they are smart enough and patient enough to just wait for you to find a good place to pull over. Many of them offer encouraging words as they go by.

I thought the Ridgline was a great event, and all the folks that were around me were encouraging and polite. I was lucky enough to not have any bad encounters at the Voodoo. But then again, I am supremely skilled, at getting my ass out of the way.

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